Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised in Washington, D.C., Belson graduated from Gonzaga College High School in 1949.
In the 1950s, he earned bachelor's and law degrees from Georgetown University where he was a member of the Philodemic Society, and worked as a law clerk for prominent D.C. lawyer Edward Bennett Williams and federal appeals judge E. Barrett Prettyman.
[2] He spent three years in the United States Army as a JAG and then returned to Washington, where he became a partner at Hogan & Hartson.
Belson was the first judge to see the Watergate burglars, signing a search warrant and setting bail.
"[4] He was a candidate for chief judge in 1984 and 1988, but the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission instead chose William C. Pryor and Judith W. Rogers, respectively.